Dutchtown receives top seed for Louisiana football playoffs

Dutchtown (Geismar) (10-0) received Class 5A's No. 1 seed in the Louisiana High School Athletic Association state football playoffs that begin this week. The Griffins will play 32nd-seeded Covington (5-5) in its bi-district, or first-round game.

"It's great to be No. 1," Griffins coach Benny Saia said, "but we're in the playoffs now, and the other team wants to win as much you do. I just hope we learned that last year. We were seeded No. 6, which was the highest we'd ever been before. And Comeaux (seeded 27th) came in and beat us. I don't know a lot about Covington, but we need to be ready to play."

Click here to view MaxPreps' Louisiana football playoff brackets.

Elsewhere, Karr (New Orleans), at 9-1, was seeded first in Class 4A and will face Wossman (Monroe, La.), at 5-5. Defending Class 3A champion Notre Dame of Crowley was seeded first and will risk its 10-0 record against 5-5 Plaquemine.

Defending Class 2A runner-up Curtis (River Ridge), with its 8-1 record, will entertain Many (4-5). Westminster Academy (Opelousas) drew the top seed in Class 1A, with its 10-0 record, and will play Ascension Episcopal (Lafayette), at 5-4.

Seeded second behind Notre Dame in Class 3A is Redemptorist (Baton Rouge), which lost its only game in its regular-season finale to rival Parkview Baptist (Baton Rouge), 9-7. The Wolves (9-1) were five yards from a go-ahead touchdown with 42.7 seconds left when star running back and LSU commitment Jeremy Hill lost a fumble. Hill finished with 30 carries for 167 yards.

Redemptorist (9-1) is on the opposite side of the bracket from Notre Dame and fifth-seeded Parkview Baptist (7-2). Redemptorist will face Northeast (Pride), at 3-7, in its bi-district game.

BLANCHARD SETS RECORD
Not only is Denham Springs running back Kaleb Blanchard just a sophomore, but he needed a little more than half the carries of the previous record-holder to become the Yellow Jackets' single-season rushing leader.

Blanchard has carried 164 times for 1,645 yards and 20 touchdowns in averaging better than 10 yards per carry. That eclipsed the previous mark that Glen Glass set in 1985 when he rushed 338 times for 1,548 yards. Blanchard broke the mark in the regular-season finale when he carried 20 times for 147 yards and two touchdowns in a 28-0 victory over Scotlandville (Baton Rouge). Denham Springs (7-3) will make its third consecutive playoff appearance for only the second time ever and the first time since 1983-85. The No. 25 seed will travel to face eighth-seeded L.W. Higgins (Marrero), at 9-1, in bi-district action.

As for Blanchard, Denham Springs coach Dru Nettles, said his sophomore star has "earned everything that he's got and deserves everything that he has."

BYRD COMMITS TO MEMPHIS
Despite playing in only five games as a senior after having undergone surgery to repair a broken leg five months ago, St. Helena Central (Greensburg) standout Ryan Byrd committed to the University of Memphis, which was one of several schools to have offered him a scholarship.

Byrd committed after taking an unofficial visit to Memphis, along with Memphis commitment and home-schooled Clinton quarterback Stevie Douglas, who did more than drive.

"He was talking about how I needed to commit," Byrd said. "He was saying how good we can be and what great chemistry we would have in the passing game."

Byrd is a standout both at wide receiver and defensive back. In five games, the 6-foot-1, 150-pound Byrd caught 27 passes for 509 yards and two touchdowns and made 32 tackles and broke up eight passes defensively.

In St. Helena Central's final regular-season game, Byrd caught six passes for 154 yards and one touchdown and made five tackles. That helped St. Helena Central beat Pride, 45-39, and avoid a winless season.

Half of Memphis' eight 2011 commitments are from Louisiana. Memphis coach Larry Porter is a former LSU assistant coach.

In other recruiting news, Dutchtown (Geismar) girls basketball player Ka'Nesheia Cobbins committed to the University of Arkansas-Little Rock. UALR coach Robert Dallimore previously coached Cobbins at Christian Life Academy (Baton Rouge).

MILES MAKES A NAME FOR HERSELF
Smacker Miles, the daughter of LSU football coach Les Miles, was named the outstanding girls swimmer at the Capital City Swim League Championships at the Crawfish Aquatics pool in Baton Rouge. The University Lab (Baton Rouge) swimmer won the 200-yard individual medley in 2 minutes, 9.06 seconds and the 100-yard butterfly in 58.99 seconds.

Parkview Baptist's (Baton Rouge) John Michael Moore was named the outstanding boys swimmer after winning the 100-yard butterfly (53.35) and the 100-yard backstroke (52.79).

Defending champion Catholic (Baton Rouge) and St. Joseph's Academy (Baton Rouge) successfully defended their team titles, respectively. Catholic scored 518 points to outdistance Lutcher (270) and Parkview Baptist (252). St. Joseph's Academy scored 466 points in defeating Baton Rouge-teams Episcopal (230) and U-High (188).